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Undoing a successful import

When you use Content Porter, you may have times where you want to undo a successful import of content items into a Content Manager instance.

Before you begin

To perform a successful undo, the following must be the case:

  • You must have created an Undo Package for the import you want to undo
  • You must be logged in, either as an administrator user, or as the user who performed the import that produced the Undo Package.
  • The items that were imported must not have been modified, deleted, published, rolled back, or unlocalized after the import was performed.
  • The items that were imported must not be in use (checked out or in workflow) during the undo process.

About this task

You may want to undo a successful import of content items into a Content Manager instance in, for example, the following situations:

  • You may be importing the same items into multiple Content Manager instances, one of which has failed. If this happens, you may want to undo the successful imports into the other instances.
  • You accidentally chose the wrong import settings file, and imported the wrong items by mistake. In this case, too, you will want to undo your import.

By performing an undo, you tell Content Porter to:

  • Delete items that were created during the import.
  • Replace updated items to the version of the item that existed before the import.
  • Roll back and unlocalize items that were localized during the import.
  • Revoke any application data that was imported.

Procedure

  1. Start the Content Porter wizard using one of the following methods:
    • From Content Manager Explorer, select Tools > Content Porter.
    • From the Windows Start Menu, access the RWS Group programs group and select Tridion Sites Content Porter.

    The Content Porter wizard opens and shows options for the different actions that you can perform.

  2. Select Start undo wizard and click Next.
  3. Content Porter shows the first screen of the wizard lists any Content Manager instances that have been previously added.
    • If the instance for which you want to undo an import is listed, do the following:
      1. Select the newly created Content Manager, and click Next.
      2. If requested, provide the necessary user credentials to verify the new connection. The authentication process can vary depend on how authentication is configured. You may be redirected to a browser window to sign in through an external identify provider. After a successful authentication, the browser will display a confirmation, at which point you can close the browser and return to the wizard.
    • If the instance is not listed, you can create it now.
      1. Click Add.
      2. In the dialog box, define the instance with the following information:
        ParameterDescription
        ProtocolThe protocol you use to connect to the Content Manager, either HTTP or HTTPS
        PortThe port number you use to connect to the Content Manager, 80 by default
        NameThe network name of the server on which the Content Manager is located.
        DescriptionA text field in which you can enter text (for example, "Staging server") that helps you and other Content Porter users to identify this Content Manager instance. Content Porter does not use this information.
      3. Click OK.
      4. If requested, provide the necessary user credentials to verify the new connection. The authentication process can vary depend on how authentication is configured. You may be redirected to a browser window to sign in through an external identify provider. After a successful authentication, the browser will display a confirmation, at which point you can close the browser and return to the wizard.
      5. Select the newly created Content Manager, and click Next.
  4. The wizard shows a list of Undo Packages. You can identify a specific import by its creation time, the user who performed the import, the number of items, and the description (filled in during import). Select the import you wish to undo and click Next.
    The next wizard step, Select Options, appears.
  5. In the Select Options screen, the option Detect if imported items were modified after import is selected by default. With this option selected, undo fails if an item is found to have been modified after the import, because the undo would then not only undo the import, but also the modifications made by users after the import. If you want to undo items regardless, clear this option. Then click Next.

    The next wizard step, Summary, appears.

  6. In the Summary step, verify the settings of the undo process and, if you wish to reuse this Undo, click Save Configuration. Then click Next.

    The Undo Progress step appears and Content Porter performs the undo non-interactively. The undo process aborts if it encounters an error. When the undo process is finished, the Undo Result step appears.

  7. Click Finish to exit the wizard.
    The Content Porter initial screen appears.

Results

If the undo is successful, Content Porter does the following:
  • Content Porter undoes all changes made to the Content Manager instance by this specific import.
  • Content Porter removes the Undo Package from the server.